Singer parole: Tejano star Jose 'Joe' Lopez, 66, who was convicted a decade ago of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old relative, is headed for an early release

Jose Manuel 'Joe' Lopez, the former lead singer and co-founder of the Texas-based Tejano band Grupo Mazz who was convicted in 2006 of having sex with a 13-year-old relative, is now headed for an early release.

The 66-year-old Grammy Award winner, who has served ten years of his 32-year sentence, has been approved for parole, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The agency’s website states that the incarcerated musician will be transferred to a Sex Offender Education Program and will be released to parole 'after completion and not earlier than four months from 01/2017.'

Once he regains his freedom, Lopez will be required to register as a sex offender.

Joe Lopez's brother, Lorenzo, confirmed the news Saturday in a Facebook post, which read, in part: 'It is for me a great pleasure to announce that the committee of the parole board has voted in our favor.'

Lorenzo Lopez concluded his status update by thanking the public for their 'support/prayers and always for my brother and our family.'

Joe Lopez gained fame in the 1970s and '80s by producing several hit Tejano songs and albums for Grupo Mazz, which he started with Jimmy Gonzalez, reported Chron.com.

Lopez is the Grammy Award-winning former lead singer and co-founder of the Texas-based Tejano band Grupo Mazz

Reprieve: Lopez, 66, will be transferred to a Sex Offender Education Program and will be released to parole four months later. He is currently serving a 32-year sentence

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Tejano is a style of Tex-Mex folk music combining elements of traditional, rock and country music and often featuring an accordion.

In October 2006, a jury found Lopez guilty of child sexual assault and indecency with a child for molesting a 13-year-old female relative at his Rancho Viejo condominium in 2004.

He was sentenced to 32 years in prison but was expected to serve only 20 years at the W.F. Ramsey Unit in Rosharon, Texas.

Lopez's defense team appealed the verdict, arguing that the evidence used to convict him, including DNA samples, was insufficient and possibly tainted.

Protestations of innocence: Lopez has maintained his innocence and his supporters have claimed that his conviction was the result of a prosecutor's vendetta

His supporters also claimed that then-Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobo, the lead prosecutor in the case, had a personal grudge against Lopez stemming from a financial dispute over a cancelled performance, reported RGVProud.com.

Villalobos himself was later convicted and sent to prison for bribery.

ValleyCentral reported that in 2009, the 13th Court of Appeals upheld Joe Lopez's conviction and rejected his request for a new trial.